Olympic ceremony producers pray for good weather

February 2, 1998

Programs
Competitions
Venues
Access
A la carte
Photo Album
From the Olympics Toword Tomorrow

Olympic ceremony producers pray for good weather

Executive Producer Keita Asari (right) and Star conductor Seiji Ozawa

''Don't send snow this Saturday,'' is what the producers of the opening gala for the Olympic Winter Games are begging the weather gods, or else the ceremony's globe-spanning choir finale could turn into a nonsynchronized disaster, Executive Producer Keita Asari said Monday.

''I think we will be okay. Yesterday we went to the Zenkoji Temple and prayed for a halt in snowfall,'' Asari told a news conference.

Chief Producer Tsutomu Konno said snow, rain and other bad weather could wreak havoc with Nagano's live satellite link to choirs in Beijing, Berlin, Cape Town, New York and Sydney.

A newly developed time-lag adjuster will be used to offset the time delay that occurs in satellite transmission but ''it's a rather complicated undertaking to synchronize all the choirs,'' Konno said.

''That's why we hope for clear skies all over the place. Rain, in particular, poses a danger for the system,'' he added.

Star conductor Seiji Ozawa, who will conduct the gala performance of the Ode to Joy, the finale of Beethoven's 9th symphony, displayed shock at the possible implications of bad weather.

''Didn't everything go overwhelmingly well when we had a trial in the stadium last September?'' Ozawa, who was also present, asked in disbelief.

The gala event to mark the beginning of the 16-day Games will take place at the open-air Olympic stadium in Nagano.

Asked why he chose the Ode to Joy, a piece that is customarily performed by hundreds of mammoth choirs across Japan during the year-end holiday season, Ozawa said, ''I have an egoistic reason...I haven't conducted Beethoven's 9th in the last 10 years.''

''I'm very happy to do this,'' he added.

Ozawa said he is confident that the Olympic performance will provide the Japanese with a fresh approach toward the stereotype piece as it would ''put everybody together, all the world.''

The opening extravaganza, to be held at the Minami Nagano Sports Park stadium with a capacity of 50,000, will be televised to a possible 3 billion viewers around the globe.

Ozawa said he hopes that all people in the stadium and those in front of the TV at home will sing along with the global choir. ''Then our purpose will be fulfilled,'' he said.

(Kyodo News)

No part of the article, photographs, or illustrations presented here may be printed or used without permission.